Scientists reveal most accurate depiction of a dinosaur ever created

[Perrine]

[thumb]http://i.imgur.com/f5ixBiq.jpg[/thumb][thumb]http://i.imgur.com/l0Zwpjj.jpg[/thumb]
[quote]Psittacosaurus fossils are commonly found across most of Asia. The bipedal adults used their distinctive beaks to nibble through the vegetation of the Cretaceous, more than 100m years ago. The relatively large brain of Psittacosaurus leads scientists to suspect it may have been a relatively smart dinosaur, with complex behaviours. The large eyes hint that it had good vision.

The Psittacosaurus specimen Vinther’s team studied is held at the Senkenberg Museum in Frankfurt. It is a complete skeleton from one of the world’s best preserved fossil deposits in China. Named the Jehol Biota, these deposits are a Lagerstätte, from the German for storage place: they are literally a rocky safehouse for the world’s most well-preserved fossils. There are a handful of Lagerstätte around the world, famed for yielding remains that retain their fossilised soft tissues, feathers, fur, skin and stomach contents. The Senckenburg Psittacosaurus is an exceptional example, even having its cloaca preserved – the multi-purpose opening for excretion, reproduction and urination.

Vinther is no stranger to Lagerstätte. After extensive work on fossils from localities such as Sirius Passet in Greenland, his name has more recently become synonymous with the study of fossil pigments: in ink sacs from ancient squid, and perhaps more famously in the feathers of avian dinosaurs and fossil birds from Brazil, Germany and China.

While the exquisite patterns preserved in this specimen have been recognised before, Vinther’s team is the first to approach it quantitatively. To get a clear picture of the pigments in the dinosaurs’ skin, Vinther’s team fired a laser at the specimen – think less death-ray and more glow-stick – to highlight fluorescent materials (calcium phosphate) remaining preserved from the animal’s scales. Under an electron microscope, they confirmed the presence of melanosomes: the structures that store pigments in cells and tissues. From there it was a case of photographing the whole fossil and mapping the pigment patterns from the squished Cretaceous dinosaur on to a three-dimensional model. This is where paleoartist Robert Nicholls came in.

Based in Bristol, Nicholls is well known for his vivid paleontological artwork. He has worked with the BBC, National Geographic, various authors, and museums to breathe life into prehistory. His sketchbooks reveal a dark sense of humour, from sauropod necks acting as lightning rods, to dinosaurs suffering from dysentery.

“Some of my earliest memories are of drawing dinosaurs as a child, and that passion for illustrating extinct animals and environments has never left me,” he tells me enthusiastically. “Jakob called me one morning in 2014 and asked if I was interested in reconstructing a fossil dinosaur with accurate colour patterns. I said, yes!”[/quote]
[url]https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/14/scientists-reveal-most-accurate-depiction-of-a-dinosaur-ever-created[/url]

[BuffaloBill]

It looks retarded.

[_charon]

[QUOTE=Teddybeer;51057208]Where do I sign up to become a creationist because these more and more accurate depictions are really ruining my childhood memories.[/QUOTE]

Relatively speaking, depictions of Psittacosaurus haven't changed all that much since it was discovered. Biggest new thing was the quills, which are completely awesome.
[sp]psittacosaurs are adorable i want one[/sp]

edit: for comparison, much older depiction of same dinosaur
[t]http://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/images/7130/psittacosaurus_2_big.jpg[/t]

[Jimpyy]

They're looking tastier and tastier the further along we get.

[Electrocuter]

Daww I want one.

[matt000024]

wtf maybe no man's sky wasn't as shitty as everyone said

[Zillamaster55]

"Accurate" my ass, looks shrink-wrapped to hell

[editline]15th September 2016[/editline]

It could be a lot...lot worse shrink-wrap wise though

[Lollipoopdeck]

[QUOTE=BuffaloBill;51057216]It looks retarded.[/QUOTE]

psh you don't even have facespikes

[God of Ashes]

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;51057291]"Accurate" my ass, looks shrink-wrapped to hell

[editline]15th September 2016[/editline]

It could be a lot...lot worse shrink-wrap wise though[/QUOTE]

didn't realize you were an expert in paleontological artwork as well.

[C.C]

As soon as i seen those pictures that really shitty harmonica cover of the Jurassic Park theme played in my head.

[Headhumpy]

[QUOTE=matt000024;51057242]wtf maybe no man's sky wasn't as shitty as everyone said[/QUOTE]

it's not that no man's sky is good, it's just that reality sucks

[Burro]

[QUOTE=Jimpy;51057237]They're looking tastier and tastier the further along we get.[/QUOTE]

Seriously. The more palaeontologists insist dino's are less Godzilla and more jacked-up komodo parrot, the more I have to ask... rotisserie Psittacosaurus when?

[Bradyns]

I still love the later-more feathery dinosaurs.

[Corndog Ninja]

It's funny how I kind of stopped learning about dinosaurs after I turned, like, 12 or so (not to mention a lot of books and movies I consumed were older than that) and so I have very detailed knowledge of dinosaurs that is easily a decade out of date and only updated with the very occasional headline.

I still refuse to believe that dinosaurs have feathers because I think that looks dumb. I'm willing to accept quills as a compromise though.

[QUOTE=Teddybeer;51057208]Where do I sign up to become a creationist because these more and more accurate depictions are really ruining my childhood memories.[/QUOTE]

creationist dinosaurs are rad

[IMG]http://www.truthingenesis.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/fire-breating-dragon-300x224.jpg[/IMG]

[Paul-Simon]

[QUOTE=Corndog Ninja;51057549]creationist dinosaurs are rad

[IMG]http://www.truthingenesis.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/fire-breating-dragon-300x224.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

my atheism ends here

[Dr. Kyuros]

He's got wheat growing out of his tail. :v:

Seriously though, this is really awesome and [URL="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Psittacosaurus_mongoliensis_whole_BW.jpg"]still matches the more recent[/URL] [URL="http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/psittacosaurus-lujiatunensis-early-nobumichi-tamura.jpg"]depictions of psittacosaurus.[/URL]

[noh_mercy]

[QUOTE=Corndog Ninja;51057549]
[IMG]http://www.truthingenesis.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/fire-breating-dragon-300x224.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

"Excuse me sir, I hope my horrible ugliness wont be a distraction to you"

[_charon]

[QUOTE=Dr. Kyuros;51057759]He's got wheat growing out of his tail. :v:

Seriously though, this is really awesome and [URL="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Psittacosaurus_mongoliensis_whole_BW.jpg"]still matches the more recent[/URL] [URL="http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/psittacosaurus-lujiatunensis-early-nobumichi-tamura.jpg"]depictions of psittacosaurus.[/URL][/QUOTE]

[t]http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/psittacosaurus-lujiatunensis-early-nobumichi-tamura.jpg[/t]
i desire to punch whoever made this

[Mugofdoom]

Why does it look like its left leg is jutting out of the middle of its body?

[_charon]

[QUOTE=mugofdoom;51057877]Why does it look like its left leg is jutting out of the middle of its body?[/QUOTE]

Just a trick of the lighting, if you look closely you can see it's belly/pelvis/whatever jutting out between the legs.

[Zephyrs]

[QUOTE=Teddybeer;51057208]Where do I sign up to become a creationist because these more and more accurate depictions are really ruining my childhood memories.[/QUOTE]

It gets worse. A lot of species aren't actually different species. Everything you know is a lie.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQa11RMCeSI[/media]

[lintz]

dinosaurs have always been absurdly shrinkwrapped. even now

[TVC15]

[QUOTE=Corndog Ninja;51057549]creationist dinosaurs are rad

[IMG]http://www.truthingenesis.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/fire-breating-dragon-300x224.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

dude that's fucking metal holy shit

[LSK]

It looks like it was made in Spore.

[Chill]

[QUOTE=Perrine;51057187][thumb]http://i.imgur.com/f5ixBiq.jpg[/thumb][/QUOTE]

It looks so happy :downs:

[crumbleshake]

[QUOTE=lintz;51057978]dinosaurs have always been absurdly shrinkwrapped. even now[/QUOTE]

Wasn't there a book where a bunch of artists used the same techniques used to extrapolate what dinosaurs looked like based on their bones, and did the same thing to modern animals and they all looked absolutely ridiculous.

Chances are we're very very wrong.

[kariko]

[QUOTE=CrumbleShake;51059410]Wasn't there a book where a bunch of artists used the same techniques used to extrapolate what dinosaurs looked like based on their bones, and did the same thing to modern animals and they all looked absolutely ridiculous.

Chances are we're very very wrong.[/QUOTE]

I would love to see this, it sounds amazing.

[editline]dino dong[/editline]

I found a couple albums on imgur:
[url]http://imgur.com/a/wCKgh[/url]
[url]http://imgur.com/a/BEz4r\[/url]

These are neat.

[Bynine]

its so cute, I want one

[Humin]

[QUOTE=kariko;51059449]I would love to see this, it sounds amazing.

[editline]dino dong[/editline]

I found a couple albums on imgur:
[url]http://imgur.com/a/wCKgh[/url]
[url]http://imgur.com/a/BEz4r\[/url]

These are neat.[/QUOTE]

You couldn't make opposums look uglier if you tried. Cows looks pretty neat when they're not just walking stomaches.

[_charon]

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;51057971]It gets worse. A lot of species aren't actually different species. Everything you know is a lie.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQa11RMCeSI[/media][/QUOTE]

for the record, these are all just theories, and not particularly good ones
and jack horner says a lot of stupid stuff